Monday, February 04, 2008

ISO: The (sock) Fire Within

This weekend Peeper-lou assisted me with some stash reorganization--it was high time that yarns be resorted and placed in clear plastic bins where I could easily get to them, rather perpetuate a situation whereby out of the blue I begin to fret on the drive home from work and wonder if I really actually know where that skein of sKNITches Bebop sock yarn in Baltic is, only to dash in the door, spend 20 some odd minutes rummaging around the third floor, only to finally put my hands on it, but not without significant torment and folderol. Above you see an example of the labeling system that my junior assistant devised. Get it? It's the bin with Cherry Tree Hill & Wollmeise, so there's a corresponding artistic rendering . Other bins are similarly labeled, like the 'Jo Sharp' bin has a picture of a guy named Joe holding a sharp needle (?). However this particular label tripped her up a bit as she misunderstood when I told her that Wollmeise meant 'wool tit' in German. Tee-hee-hee... The bird, not the body part, kid!The mad fit of reorganization afforded me the opportunity to take a special look at the Project Spectrum yarns--red, orange and pink. Below you see a sampling:Top, left to right:1. MadelineTosh Merino Sport 'Pop Rocks' 2. Malabrigo 'American Beauty' 3. Colinette 'Whirly Fig' 4. Koigu Merino Kersti Crepe '663'5. Malabrigo 'Geranio' 6. Rowan Felted Tweed #7. Cherry Tree Hill Potluck 8. Rowan Kid Classic9. Crytal Palace Merino 5 #108 10. Ella Rae Palermo #7 11. Socks that Rock 'RI Red' 12. Lorna's Laces 'Red Rover'13. Artyarns Ultramerino 4 #142 14. Lorna's Laces 'Lucky Strike', 15. Hazleknits 'Sailor's Delight', 16. Malabrigo 'Shocking Pink'I am really motivated to use PS for stash-busting purposes and hope to be able to knit up as much of these yarns as I can. The shades of orange and pink and deep crimson are inspiring to me and I tend to work well with this type of knitting limitation, sort of like the Oulipo writerswho devised constraints for themselves like writing novels without the letter 'e' and poems that follow specific mathematical formulas. But I have realized that there is one aspect to Project Spectrum that is most untimely: my sock knitting enthusiasm is at an all-time low, some would even call it a nadir. This is a problem because most of the fire family yarns are for sock purposes. I want to feel the love again and just don't see how it's ever going to come back. Socks just feel really pointless to me right now, and I need to be reminded what is it about them that make them such a pleasure.

What sock pattern do you recommend in order to bring back that loving (sock) feeling? Help coax me off the sock knitting ledge and bring me back in to the fold.

35 comments:

I love me some Embossed Leaves! Fun but not frustrating, interesting but not intricate, and the end result is always beautiful. I know you've already knit a pair, but you love the pattern and in a fiery colorway, they would be FABulous!

If you're still feeling kinda meh about socks, then what about the Charlotte's Web shawl? I think it uses something like 5 different skeins of sock yarn...

That PS yarn is all so gorgeous!! I'm usually inspired to knit socks when I pour over stitch pattern books. There is almost always something that makes me want to cast on a sock or two. Do you have any of the Japanese books? They are full of great ideas.

Way to go on reorganizing te stash - maybe I should follow your lead...course I usually end up buying 10 plastic totes and somehow still remain disorganized...What a great lot of Project Spectrum yarns, I need to do this too:) I think Monkey socks would be good - easy peasy and fast for some reason. I deny the pointlessness of socks, I try not to think about it.

I am trying to promote plain sock knitting in all questions such as these- if people I admire start knitting plain socks at a breakneck pace, I won't feel like a loser for wanting only to do that.

Further-I saw your stash additions on Ravelry- beautiful- I was going to make a snarky/covetous comment and then realized it wouldn't be much longer before casey put up a tab for knitting bags and all would be revealed.

Do you have Knitting Vintage Socks? the Child's First Sock Pattern is really good - it makes a nice stretchy sock without feeling like all you're doing is ribbing. It would look great with some of your semisolids.

I'm afraid I got nothing for you, as I am strictly a stocking stitch/no pattern sock knitter. Socks are all about auto-pilot for me. Something to make me feel less guilty when I flake out in front of some bad tv show. Maybe that's all you need. Find some tv series on DVD and knit away without even paying attention. Next thing you know, you'll have a bunch PS socks knit up.

Can you send Peeper-lou over to help me organize my stash? Believe me, I need help!!!

Wow, you are brave to admit that the sock love is just not there in a world of sock knitting madness. Confession? I just knit socks so I won't be ostracized. I am decidely not a sock knitter. And may I just take this opportunity to say that one of the reasons your block is so awesome is because you use words like "folderol."

Allow me a moment to recover from envious shock. You have enough Wollmeise to warrant a bin!?! Lucky. The loss of sock mojo is a virus spreading through blogland. I have it and so do a several of my friends who I'd describe as sock addicted. I'm convinced the sock mojo will return with the warm weather when knitting a heavy sweater or a cute winter accessory will have no appeal. That being said, I'm a total sucker for Monkey socks.

I'm not going to be much help, because I don't enjoy knitting socks and I hate wearing handknit socks too! I use lots of sock yarn for shawls, scarves, and baby things. Maybe you need to embrace the no-sock love and just go with it!

Oh oh oh! If you give me until, say, the weekend (or whenever I get my d*&m computer back) I will write up the sock pattern that I've whipped up in honour of Project Spectrum Elements: Fire. It's orange and red and incorporates a firey stitch. It'll be perfect for any of those sock yarns up there!

I loved knitting the French Child's Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. They are also my most comfy socks. I think you just need to find a pattern that excites you again. There's also nothing like taking a break...

Wish I could help you choose a sock pattern but, honestly, I have to quickly find a mop to wipe up the pool of drool that came out of my mouth when I got to your PS stash pics. ~Sigh~ You are one lucky girl!

Maybe you could combine them and make something other than a sock? I think I remember you mentioning recently that you were obsessed with making "other" things from sock yarn....

I am going to ditto what Ashley said, shawls and scarves. I know that there is a scarf pattern published on the MadTosh site for a scarf for the sock yarn. If you really want to join the sock knitting fold, you might look into Snicket socks. I just picked mine up again last night, and I kind of heart them...